Notes / Commercial Description:
In this year’s edition we took our inspiration from two Belgian styles: Saisons and Golden Triples. As such, the Stone 07.07.07 Vertical Epic has a deep, deep golden hue and the flavor is spicy, fruity, complex and refreshing. We used four different malts, and a subtle, yet distinct, blend of Glacier and Crystal hops to get just the right balance. Then, for the complexity, we added in some exotic spices --- including ginger, cardamom, grapefruit peel, lemon peel and orange peel (the latter three acknowledging our Southern California home) --- and a special Belgian yeast strain. All in all this is yet another case of us drawing from classic Belgian influences and cavalierly making it our own...San Diego style!

Poured this one into a Unibroue tulip. It has a nice white head and the color is what I would imagine from a wit/trippel hybrid. The smell is expected from a wit with a little bit of punch. I realize this is 10 months old already but I just don't really like this taste. I think I'm tasting some ginger and it just really isn't pleasant to me. I also taste clove and spicy belgian yeast but the ginger taste is just ruining this for me. Overall this is my least favorite of all the Stone beers I have had.

I bought this expecting hops, not remembering that all the other vertical epics were Belgian based. My grave mistake.

Anyone who knows me well knows I'm rarely a fan of American Belgians. And stating that, this one does nothing to change that perception.

Color is dark for a pale, closest I can think of in the color palate of Belgians would be Bush (Scaldis), which technically is a Belgian barley wine not a pale with much more malt than your typical Belgian. Aroma on this one has Belgian yeast characterists, but they're not strong. Mostly fruits coming through, with some alcohol. Flavor again is muted with similar effect as aroma, body is almost watery like a German hefeweizen. Alcohol comes in much stronger than the stated 8.4%. I frankly can't believe it's not pushing 10% based on flavor. While yes, many American brews between 8-9% have this much alcohol presence, I can't think of one Belgian that even comes close. The beer label claims it's bottle conditioned, yet no yeast was left in the bottle or apparent in the pour.

Pours a hazed golden copper with a thin white head. Medicinal and soapy aroma with bubblegum malt and tobacco. Flavor is less offensive than the nose but still overly sweet. Caramel and bubblegum with citrus candy. Syrupy body with low carbonation. Difficult to drink.

Smell- Got a bit too close to the beer because I couldn't smell jack. Well, I ended up with a nostril full of 070707. It wasn't very nice either. Smelled like sugary corn syrup. Smelled some orange-tangerine notes as it warmed, but mostly sugar.

Taste- Tasted pretty much like it smelled. Overwhelming corn syrup like flavor. Some corriander and cardamom and maybe some white pepper. Can see a touch of tripel and a touch of saison, but not ones that I would want to drink on a regualr basis.

Mouthfeel- Very low carbonation, almost flat. Yucky sugary coating of the tongue and mouth.

Drinkability- Damn, I hope this one really improves with the years. My least favorite of the VE's so far.

22 oz bottle. Pours a hazy golden-orange with a small white head that quickly disappears.

The aroma is wheaty malts with some spices and a little fruit and alcohol and some grassy hops.

The flavor is sweet malts, spices (clove, ginger) with some fruitiness. It has a grassy bitter finish. As it warms, the sweetness and ginger become a little cloying. The mouthfeel is medium and watery with low but sharp carbonation.

Overall, a decent Belgian, but not too striking to me. The blend of overwhelming flavors don't balance out really well.

I was happy to find this one on a road trip but it ended up being a bit of a disappointment. Pours a clear, bright orange color with a thin white head. Aroma is a bit stingy with oranges, perfume and an assortment of spices. The mouthfeel on this is very tart, tangy and slightly dry. The strongest flavors are oranges and coriander, with lots of spices (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg), some lemon, and light fragrant hopping thrown in there. Interesting but the flavors just don't work for me. Halfway through the bomber I was sick of it. Not an awful beer but it is the worst Stone product I have had so far. Maybe I should have waited until "sometime after December 12th, 2012."

Head on this golden ale disappears almost instantly. Given its age, I am not too surprised. I tried to pour gently but still managed to land some of the yeast beasts into our Teku glasses.

Syrup, honey and white grape notes predominate. A bit of ginger and citrus pith. A bit of creaminess but maintains dryness in the finish. Carbonation is crisp and tight; it feels really good on the palate. I wish a bit more fruit character would come out and play with the delightful carbonation. Medium to medium-full body.

Overall this is an interesting beer that I held onto for almost six years. I'm guess a year younger might have actually been its prime time as there is a hint of oxidization. This maybe would have been best for a 08.08.08 or 09.09.09 release? Some of the fruit and spice notes have been mellowed out too much in the aging process without much else to give way.

Bottle that I bought at Norm's in Vienna right around the time this beer was released. Back in the day, there used to be a 2-bottle limit on this stuff. Wow.

The first pour is clear copper/amber with a dense, off-white head that falls off to a thin disk leaving some lacing. This does look nice. The nose, however, is worse for the wear (I think). Honey, some oxidized/stale sugary malt character, potent spice character, surprisingly so for the age of this beer, are present. Green cardamom, allspice and mace are most noticeable, as is some crystallized ginger. A little bubblegum as well. Decent.

The palate opens moderately sweet and with quite a bit of ginger. This is more of a Belgian braggot than a cross between a saison and a tripel IMO. Sweet, candied ginger, cardamom, sugar, syrup and honey are all present. Medicinal, I can't say I get much yeast character, at least from this clean pour. Alcohol appears on the finish, adding some burn. Medium-light in body, this beer is highly carbonated and this lends a scrubbing, carbonic acid character to the finish. Despite its heavy-handedness and lack of subtlety, this beer is moderately enjoyable, more so than my notes would lead you believe.

Golden and slight hazed body topped by a puffed up head. Nice billowing and some chunks formed in the center. Calmed down to a mild head...a bit slick looking.
Smell is a bit weak. Belgian yeast, corriander, some biscuit. Not very strong, but not bad.
Taste has hints of the Belgian yeast characteristics, slight spice and little buttery. Feels like a carbonated wit beer, I don't like it. Too tingly for me. Drinks fairly well. I'll get some more a plunk 'em down in storage.

Pour: dirty orange with a modest white head on top. The smell is heavy on the spice; ginger, coriander...definitely reminds me of a saison in certain ways as well.

Flavour, very sweet and spicy up front...the ginger and coriander from the nose is prominent, but it is complimented by a sweet maltiness, almost bordering on sugary. Light citrus is also present, not in a hoppy way though, just a touch of zing. A bit of banana as well. This becomes increasingly abrasive as it warms though, and the spices become absolutely overwhelming near room temperature. The score I'm giving it here is an average of the good score that it had when it was still cold, and the bad score that it had once it was warmer.

Mouthfeel, full but not over the top, plenty of carbonation, some tongue bitter. Drinkability, about as good as you could expect for such an intense spice flavour, which is to say, not that good. I would expect this to improve as it ages.

The bottom line: if you like highly spiced, Saison/Belgian Pale style ales, then this is worth checking out. I think age will improve the spice depth here and allow the individual flavours to come out more, but for the present, this beer is strongly on the abrasive side, particularly once it warms, and I would recommend letting it age for a bit (a year or two?) before cracking the bottle.

This beer is slightly hazed and throws out a deep golden hue. The head is thin and white. Lacing sporadic. Pretty nice aroma with belgian yeast apparent. Nice little sweet doughiness. The spices are not overbearing on the nose. I get a little cardamon. On the palate I get alcohol, sweetness and fruits. Tropical punch like. The alcohol is really evident and acts as the buzzkill in this context. Otherwise, I also get some lime notes, ginger and lemon. Too much stuff going on here and it doesn't mesh all that well....right now. Don't know about the future, but some age can't hurt this. I don't forsee cracking another for years....possibly till 2012. My least favorite of the Epics so far.